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The Great Outdoors (1988)

THE GREAT OUTDOORS

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Released June 17, 1988 (US); straight-to-video (UK)

The Great Outdoors is an American comedy film written and produced by John Hughes. It stars Annette Bening in her film debut.

The film follows two families spending time on vacation in Wisconsin.

Nostalgic about the good old days in the honeymoon cabin, the patriarch Chet and the Ripley family set off to the idyllic woods of Wisconsin for the summer vacation. However, their plans for a peaceful family bonding in the heart of the untamed nature will be thwarted, when the high-rolling brother-in-law Roman and the snotty Craig family decide to crash the party. Eventually, as the two families try to have a good time together, a seemingly endless series of misfortunes and mini-disasters with thirsty leeches, cunning raccoons and a mythical wild bear, threaten to ruin the vacation. What will it take to salvage the weekend?